state regulators

> A bill moving through the California Legislature would allow state regulators to fine hospitals for providing improper patient care. Originally, the fines could be as high as $100,000, but lawmakers have adjusted that to $50,000, which should make the bill easier to pass.  …

A bill moving through the California Legislature would allow state regulators to fine hospitals $100,000 for providing improper patient care. The bill would be enacted in two steps. First, regulators could slap hospitals with a $25,000 fine for endangering patients by January 1. Second, regulators could pursue the $100,000 fine, taking into consideration the hospital's history of compliance. The bill, which is supported by the SEIU, California Medical Association and California Nurses …

Charging patients a higher copayment for more expensive prescription drugs is an established practice. Now, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is taking things a step further.  If their plans are approved by the state insurance authorities, BCBS will charge patients more if they go to prestigious, expensive hospitals or to hospitals and doctors with bad records. These hospitals will be ranked on "tier two," while the rest will be on the less expensive "tier one." The …

The former administrator of Kaiser Permanente's troubled Northern California kidney-transplant unit, David Merlin, has filed a $5 million wrongful termination lawsuit. Merlin alleges he was terminated after two months on the job for raising concerns about the transplant program. Kaiser had brought kidney transplant services in-house in late 2004, and Merlin started his job in December 2005. The suit states that he "discovered that the program was so poorly organized and unprofessionally …